By Roger Wolf —-   Today, erratic and extreme water events have been the norm rather than the exception for Iowans. Water wasn’t kind to Iowa, with memorable flooding in 1993, 2008, 2010 and 2011 impacting upstream and downstream communities. In 2012, historic widespread drought across Iowa had us hoping wells wouldn’t be dry or [...]

By Jason Johnson —- From drought to flood conditions, it seems there is no longer a “normal” growing season for Iowa farmers. A year of drought in 2012 was followed by a cool, wet spring so far this year. These types of weather extremes can be very damaging to Iowa’s soils, but conservationists are finding [...]

By Jan Glendening —-   Spring has finally arrived. For many of us that means baseball, golfing, fishing, gardening, morel mushroom hunting or planting. As we celebrate Earth Day today and begin enjoying the outdoors again, it’s also timely to reflect on the challenges that our natural resources are facing. As the mother of school-aged [...]

Rain is expected to soak much of Eastern Iowa for the rest of the week, raising concerns over flash flooding in the short-term and adding to the potential for more flooding later in the season. “We have some significant rises on our land already,” said Terry Simmons, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in the [...]

Early corn plantings will be delayed in the drought-stricken U.S. Midwest because of cool temperatures and significant rainfall next week that will also add valuable soil moisture, agricultural meteorologists said on Friday. They said parts of the Plains hard red winter wheat region will also benefit as dry soils remain a problem in parts of [...]

Parts of Iowa, especially in northwest counties, are facing drought conditions that could force conservation measures if dry weather persists and demand for water exceeds the supply, state experts told lawmakers Thursday. Tim Hall of the state Department of Natural Resources said statewide precipitation in 2012 lagged by about 9 inches below the average of [...]

  By Rich Patterson —-   September 1967 was a tough time for North Idaho ranchers. Months of heat and drought bottomed out wells, streams and springs. Forest fire danger was extreme. One late afternoon, three of us returned to the ranch house after a long sweaty day fixing fences. We craved a cleansing shower, [...]

  A state law that could decide what water users face shut-offs or restrictions as the drought continues into 2013 may be in need of updating as the odds of using it increase, observers say. The 1985 law allows the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to implement a priority water allocation system. The system would [...]

  CEDAR RAPIDS — At first, Maggie and Lance Votroubek suspected humidity played a role when they couldn’t get their porch door to close, but in a sense, the opposite proved true. Rather than moisture in the air, a lack of moisture in the ground was the underlying problem for the couple’s southeast Cedar Rapids [...]